The hammer felt good in my hands, satisfying and simple, the battered leather tool belt snug but still doing its job of keeping pencil, nail punch, tape measure, chisel, utility knife, speed square and numerous nails and screws at arm’s length. It was a spring day in the mountains, everything around blooming and sweet smelling, wildly colorful butterflies swirling about on a canvas of sky blue. 

The Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department will host expert fly-tying instructors from the Cataloochee Chapter of Trout Unlimited and conduct an “Introduction to Fly Tying” class on three evenings in February. Intended for first-time fly tyers wanting to learn the basics, the class will also appeal to crafters seeking a challenge, as well as to anglers looking to get some expert tips. 

MountainTrue, in partnership with the Mainspring Conservation Trust and the Pinnacle Park Foundation, is hosting a community volunteer workday to control non-native invasive plants and restore native habitat at the Pinnacle Park in Sylva. 

“The line runs down the meander of the ridge to where Bossy dropped her first calf.”

 “The line runs to where a block of ice stood in the road.”

“Proceed for about the distance it takes to smoke two cigarettes.”  

It promised to be one of the most riveting nights of the year for members of the Jackson County Genealogical Society.

Half a dozen men filed through the door of the Sylva library hauling boxes and pulling hand trucks bulging with old tools and implements, some of them scrounged from their papaw’s blacksmith shop or granny’s cellar, and others collected over the years from auctions or relatives or flea markets, because there’s really no such thing as too many tools.

“People could stay for hours and talk about these items and their uses and the stories that go with them,” said Tim Osment, president of the genealogical society. “The tool itself represents a time when folks used their hands to build their own items. There is a sense of nostalgia that goes with that.”